It’s Official: Maryland is the Most Democrat State

Gallup just released their latest polling data on party strength in each of the fifty states. They polled the respondents based on their party identification, not political ideology. As it turns out, the most Democrat state (excluding DC, of course) is not Vermont, New York, or Massachusetts. It is… Maryland! That’s right. Maryland is the state with the largest Democrat party advantage, at 22% over the GOP. Here is a list of the top ten Democrat and GOP states:

Here is Gallup’s contextual perspective of those at the top of the list:

Apart from the District of Columbia, Rhode Island ranked as the most Democratic state in 2008 and 2009, but is tied for sixth this year after showing one of the steepest declines in Democratic affiliation. Maryland has been in the top 10 each year but has moved steadily up the list, from eighth in 2008 to fourth in 2009 to second in 2010.

There is no question that there is a direct correlation between the growth in the public sector and the augmentation of Democrat party ID in Maryland. Most federal workers live in southern or central Maryland, most prominently in Montgomery and PG Counties.

On a national level, this report forebodes goods news for conservatives. All of the 50 states lost at least a small percentage of Democrat voters, with New Hampshire and Rhode Island leading the pack, with a 12% decline in membership. Keep in mind that the Democrats have a much stronger representation in party affiliation and identification than in allegiance to their ideology. For example, many southern states like Kentucky and Louisiana still have more registered Democrats, even though they are conservative states. This study shows that the realignment is expanding to party affiliation as well as ideological identification.